Olympic Athletes
Olympic Athletes go beyond the ultimate.
Kelly Clark, Olympic snowboarder, found Christ oneday on a snowy halfpipe, where a Christian snowboarder had fallen down. Through the tears of this young athlete, disappointment streaming down her face, the Christian snowboarder’s friend tried to make her laugh by saying, “It’s okay, God still loves you.” And, as Kelly walked by this conversation there was something about that comment that she couldn’t shake.
When she journeyed back to her room, she flipped through a Bible in the drawer, but she didn’t know how that kind of faith could be possible. The girl had fallen, and she still looked at her life as something of purpose – not putting her image in her success. So, as soon as Kelly learned that the girl was in her dorm, she sauntered down the corridor, knocked on the door, and said, “Hey, I think you’re a Christian, and I think you need to tell me about God.” And, that’s how the Olympic snowboarder got gold.
“That was a huge shifting point for me where my snowboarding became this amazing expression and fun thing, rather than this thing that I had to do. It became this thing that I was made to do and I could actually enjoy, and there was so much freedom in it because I wasn’t doing it to prove to people who I was. Through my relationship with God I learned who I was, and was comfortable in who I was. But I’ll tell you, I’ve never had more fun snowboarding, and I’ve never been more free.” – Kelly Clark
“I thank God every day for the lessons He has taught me along this journey. I went to Milwaukee with the understanding that I may fail in the eyes of the world and that pursuing this dream is a major risk. I may fall flat on my face. But I made a promise to learn. And I’ve learned that success is not defined by the outcome, but by the courage it takes to chase God-sized dreams.” – Jilleanne Rookard
To see more stories of these amazing athletes, go to Beyond the Ultimate.
© 2010 Beyond The Ultimate – Olympic, Professional & College Christian Athletes and Coaches
The Vancouver Olympics!
Yes! The Olympic Games are here! Snow on Whistler mountain, athletes of all backgrounds, the cold biting at everyone’s nerves, and the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. What a way to start off the Olympics.
From the way the very beginning, Canadians come to the show as very creative and calmly different in the way that they presented themselves to the world with their flashy technology and a budget of only 40 million, whereas the Beijing opening ceremony’s budget was 400 million. Not too shabby, Canada – you definitely made some good use of that budget…
From whales that swam beneath the transformed floor of an ocean, spouting spurts of water from the ground, to the aerial acrobatics of a young man from the National Circus School, who flew like a falcon hitting the sky with twists and turns and a perfect landing upon a “field” of that same floor that had been an ocean, the approach Canada spun out of its Winter Olympic debut was quite a display.
On my schedule, I’m going to be watching the snowboarding and speedskating races with Shaun White and Apolo Ohno. :) Enjoy the Vancouver experience.
